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Blinkx Gets Personal With Next-Generation Search

Blinkx launches new site with social networking at its heart.

LONDON -- The world's largest video search engine, Blinkx(LSE: BLNX.L), has launched a new site catering to social networkers.

The company said: "The rise of social networks and the proliferation of powerful connected devices have profoundly changed the way that we interact with the web"

The company's chief technology officer, Matt Scheybeler, added: "We use search as a starting point less often, and instead, we've become comfortable scanning and processing long streams of information -- Facebook pages and Twitter feeds."

The new site, which is designed with social networking in mind, is intended to feel like a personal TV channel. It will provide a constant stream of videos customized according to users' social graph, topics they have chosen to follow, and viewing preferences.

It will also allow users to view their videos on different devices such as tablets and smartphones. Additionally, users can start watching a video on one device and continue watching on another device without interruption.

Shares in Blinkx, which was floated on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market in 2007, rose slightly to 63 pence in early trading. This values the company at around 225 million pounds.

Currently, Blinkx is penciled in for full-year profits of about 7 million pounds, which rates the shares on a lofty price-to-earnings ratio of 30. That said, the company, which became profitable in 2011, has reported a doubling of annual sales since 2008.

This morning's update from Blinkx underlines how exciting shares can become wonderful investments for ordinary investors.

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